


No Regrets

by PR Zed (przed)



Series: Angels [2]
Category: Der Himmel über Berlin | Wings of Desire (1987), Take That
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-27
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 15:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/611254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/przed/pseuds/PR%20Zed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An angel meets two pop stars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Regrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [soundofthesurf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundofthesurf/gifts).



> A birthday fic for the lovely soundofthesurf.

He only finds out later who they are when he finds a days old paper in the circus tent, with pictures of five young men surrounded by thousands of screaming girls and a headline proclaiming _Englisch Popstars erobern Berlin_.

But today, he's standing in the ring, holding Marion's rope as she rehearses, his feet grounded in sand and sawdust as she flies above him, swooping and spinning, reminding him of what he's lost, of what it was like to have wings, to be able to cross the skies of the city in the beat of a heart and the blink of an eye, and he sees two tall young men enter the tent. And he knows something immediately: one of them is like him. One of them is _ein Engel_. An angel. Or used to be.

It's not the skinny, dark-haired one--he's looking around the tent with an entirely human curiosity--it's his friend, just as tall but more muscular, with long curly hair tamed into a ponytail that reminds him of the other _Engels_ , reminds him of Cassiel. The young man looks at him and nods, and Damiel nods back. They always know each other, those who've crossed over, but usually the meetings are by chance. Damiel suspects something has brought this one if not to him, then to the circus.

The young men sit in the stands as Marion finishes her rehearsal, and they applaud as Marion performs her final move and then slides down the rope to return to earth. 

The two young men rise as they approach.

" _Guten Tag_." The curly-haired man's accent is pronounced and clearly English.

"Hello," Damiel says. "Can I help you?" He is always willing to help another _Engel_. Seven years he's been human, but he still remembers clearly how disorientating it was at first, how strange. How wonderful. How humans had cheated him and humans had helped him. How good it was to talk to the American actor, to find he was not the only one who'd made the choice to cross over.

"I'm sorry." The skinny man stands, extends his hand in greeting to Damiel, then smiles at Marion. "We didn't mean to disturb you. But my friend wanted to see your show and we can't come tonight. We're working."

"I saw your circus once." The curly-haired man, the _Engel_ , has a not-unpleasant lisp. "In Manchester."

"That's impossible," Marion says with a frown. "The circus has not played England since before I was born. You must have seen another circus."

"Oh," says the curly-haired man, even as he catches Damiel's gaze. "I must have."

"Let me show you around," Damiel says, and manages to arrange it so that he is escorting the _Engel_ , Howard, while Marion takes charge of his skinny friend, Jason. Jason is charming and friendly, and Marion doesn't seem to mind, and as Damiel and Howard leave the tent the two of them are taking turns doing back flips around the ring. Damiel wonders what has brought these two to Berlin, what sort of work they do, but he doesn't ask.

"How long?" is what he does ask.

"Five years. You?"

"Seven," Damiel says. "Did you really see the circus in Manchester?"

"I really did." Howard smiles. "Wasn't too long after the war. I don't know why a German circus decided to tour England, but they did. I watched every show from the top of the tent. Couldn't resist poking my head in when I saw your sign."

"Let me introduce you to everyone."

So he does. He introduces Howard to the animal trainers and the jugglers, the clowns and the trapeze artists. Howard gets along best with the acrobats and the band. He can do the splits and back arrow springs, and sings better harmony than anyone in the circus. This will all make sense later.

By the time they get back to the tent, Marion has Jason up on the rope, his body twisting into surprisingly graceful shapes as Marion directs him from below.

He and Howard sit in the stands. Howard watches his friend, and Damiel watches Howard.

"Was he the reason?" Damiel finally asks.

"What?" Howard looks at him, confused.

"Did you cross over for him?" Damiel nods at Jason, currently spinning on the rope as if he's been doing it all his life.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did." He sits forward, his hands in his lap, a fond smile on his face. "Used to watch him dance at this place in Manchester. He was brilliant. Finally decided I wanted to talk to him as much as I wanted to dance." Howard nods at Marion. "Was she your reason?"

"Yes." Damiel knows his smile matches Howard's. "I used to watch her perform almost every night the circus was in Berlin."

"Do you ever regret it? Crossing over?"

Damiel looks at Marion, and thinks about her liveliness and her energy, thinks about how she loves life and what she does and him.

"I sometimes miss my old life, but I don't regret my new one." He looks at Howard. "Do you regret it?"

"I've never regretted it, not for a second." Howard's voice is fierce, and his eyes burn with a deep protectiveness. There's nothing Damiel can add to that, so he simply claps him on the back and settles in to wait for Marion to finish with his Jason.

Too soon, Jason returns to earth, and is thanking Marion, and Howard is saying goodbye. Damiel clasps his hand, wishing he could share an afternoon like this with Cassiel, wondering if Cassiel is watching him even now.

"Thank you for showing me around," Howard is saying.

"It was my pleasure. If you ever want to join the circus, I'm sure we could find a place for you. For both of you." It would be magnificent, he thinks, two _Engels_ in one circus, even if no one else could know their secret.

Jason smiles, and Howard laughs, but it's with delight at the possibility, not ridicule.

As he watches them leave the tent, their arms slung over each other's shoulders, he hopes they will return some day.


End file.
